The beautiful game

Gardening is a lot like football, says Toby, as he presents some clever tricks you need to try before the final whistle

- Toby Buckland

THE spring sowing season is a game of two halves. It kicks off indoors with those cold-hardy annuals and slow-sprouting pelargoniums and then, after working through tomatoes and the bulk of the bedding, it arrives in early May for a halftime slice of orange.

This is when tactics switch to planting seeds of hardy leafy crops straight in the soil, and sowing energetic courgettes, beans and corn in pots inside. These fast growers (along with pumpkins, marrows and outdoor cucumbers) can be sown earlier but there’s little point, as until it’s safe to plant frost-free outdoors these large-leaved plants will do little more than compete for precious sill space in the greenhouse.